Theorising Transnational Migration

This book seeks to understand migrant integration processes and develops a theory: the status paradox of migration. It explores the interaction between migrants' integration into the receiving country and the maintained inclusion into the sending society; and their simultaneous loss and gain of status.

Societal transformations have recently stimulated political debates and policies on the integration of migrants and minorities in most Western European countries. While transnational migration studies have documented migrants’ cross-border activities there have been few empirically grounded efforts to theorise these developments in the framework of integration and status theory. Based on a case study of Ghanaian migrants, this book seeks to understand integration processes and develops a theorem of the status paradox of migration which explores the interaction between migrants’ integration into the receiving country and the maintained inclusion into the sending society. It describes a characteristic problem for a large class of labour migrants from the global south who gain status in the sending countries by simultaneously losing it in the receiving countries of migration. This transnational dynamic of status attainment, which goes along with specifically national forms of status inconsistency, is what is called the status paradox of migration. By bringing together two modes of national status incorporation within one framework, the status paradox provides an innovative perspective on migration processes and demonstrates the usefulness of a transnationalist integration theory. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of migration, transnationalism, politics, sociology and anthropology.

Diaspora & transnationalism are widely used concepts in academic & political discourses. Although originally referring to quite different phenomena, they increasingly overlap today. Such inflation of meanings goes hand in hand with a danger of essentialising collective identities. This book analyses this topic.

Increasing interconnections between nation-states across borders have rendered the transnational a key tool for understanding our world. It has made particularly strong contributions to immigration studies and holds great promise for deepening insights into international migration. This is the first book to provide an accessible yet rigorous overview of transnational migration, as experienced by family and kinship groups, networks of entrepreneurs, diasporas and immigrant associations. As well as defining the core concept, it explores the implications of transnational migration for immigrant integration and its relationship to assimilation. By examining its political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions, the authors capture the distinctive features of the new immigrant communities that have reshaped the ethno-cultural mix of receiving nations, including the US and Western Europe. Importantly, the book also examines the effects of transnationality on sending communities, viewing migrants as agents of political and economic development. This systematic and critical overview of transnational migration perfectly balances theoretical discussion with relevant examples and cases, making it an ideal book for upper-level students covering immigration and transnational relations on sociology, political science, and globalization courses.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2008 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, grade: 1,7, Free University of Berlin (Center for Global Politics), course: Migration, language: English, abstract: Transnational migration and the creation of transnational social spaces is not a new phenomenon as such. It has existed long time before it has become a fashionable desired study subject. However, when globalization took off in the 1980s, transnational ties have changed quantitatively as well as qualitatively, and thus the topic has gained in importance. Various revolutionary technical innovations facilitated to maintain transnational contact between country of origin and the new destination on an instantaneous basis. Currently hence, such ties can be as intense as ever. The new thing about transnational migration is rather – in compliance with Glick Schiller – that scholars provided the social sciences “with a vocabulary and a framework to analyze the way in which migrants and their descendants participate in familial, social, economic, religious, political, and cultural processes that extend across the borders of nation-states” enabling scholars to “conceptualize simultaneity, the ways in which individuals settle into a new locality and also maintain various kinds of social relationships that extend into other nation-states (2006, p. 8).

Focusing on the immigrant family, this title brings together documents and commentary that is suitable for teaching United States history survey courses as well as immigration history and introductory sociology courses. It includes an introduction and epilogue.

During the last decade the issue of migration has increased in global prominence and has caused controversy among the host countries around the world. Continuing their interdisciplinary approach, editors Catherine Brettell and James Hollifield have included revised essays from the first edition in such fields as anthropology, political science, and history. This edition also features new essays by a demographer, geopgrapher, and sociologist.

Expansion of transnational capital and mass media to even the remotest of places has provoked a spate of discourse on transnationalism. A core theme hi this debate is the penetration of national cultures and political systems by global and local driving forces. The nation-state is seen as weakened by transnational capital, global media, and emergent supranational political institutions. It also faces the decentering local resistances of the informal economy, ethnic nationalism, and grass-roots activism. "Transnationalism From Below "brings together a rich combination of theoretical and grounded studies of transnational processes and practices, discussing both their positive and negative aspects. The editors examine the scope and limits of transnationalism. The volume is divided into four parts: "Theorizing Transnationalism"; "Transnational Economic and Political Agency"; "Constructing Transnational Localities"; and "Transnational Practices and Cultural Reinscription." Contriburtors include Andre C. Drainville, Josephine Smart, Alan Smart, Minna Nyberg S0rensen, George Fouron, Nina Glick Schiller, Luin Goldring, Sarah J. Mahler, Linda Miller Matthei, Louisa Schein, David A. Smith, and Robert C. Smith. Moving easily between micro and macro analyses, this book expands the boundaries of the current scholarship on transnationalism, locates new forms of transnational agency, and poses provocative questions that challenge prevailing interpretations of globalization. "Transnationalism From Below "is a pioneering collection that will make a significant addition to the libraries of anthropologists, sociologists, international relations specialists, urban planners, political scientists, and policymakers.

In an increasingly globalized world, mobility is a new defining feature of our lives, livelihoods and work experiences. This book is a first in utilising transnational migration studies as a new theoretical framework in management and organization studies. Ozkazanc-Pan presents a much-needed new concept for understanding people, work and organizations in a world on the move while attending to growing inequality associated with work in changing societies.